Iris
by FoodAndWifi
Summary: <html><head></head>Within days of the Storm Hawks' entry to the Far-Side, they meet Iris: an orphan who has spent most of her life in this place. They expect Iris to be a tour guide, but little do they know, Iris changes everything, especially for Aerrow. *rewritten version* *rated for violence, language, character death, and minor adult themes.*</html>
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So this is officially the beginning of the rewrite to the story Iris. It might be suckish at the beginning but eh, it'll get better.**

**Chapter One**

Days have passed since the Storm Hawks have entered the Far-side; the signs of Cyclonians were anywhere to be seen. In fact, there was hardly any signs of humans anywhere. Aerrow thought maybe they were looking in the wrong places, maybe they weren't looking hard enough. Piper has been collecting strange crystals on the way, testing them, seeing if they were useful.

The team had just spotted another unusual crystal. Finn, Junko, Radarr, and Aerrow went with Piper as she was studying it; it was a baby blue with purple streaks throughout it. Her eyes were narrowing as she studied its features.

"Y'know, this place should have a tour guide, they can show us around and answer all our questions about the Far-side," Junko says.

Piper lets out a chuckle, "I wish."

"I'm sure that crystal isn't important right now, Piper. How about you just take it back to the ship?" Aerrow suggested.

"Along with the thousand other crystals she's collected," Finn remarks, rolling his eyes.

Suddenly, a mechanical claw reaches out and grabs the crystal that was in Piper's hand and draws it back.

"You may have taken a _thousand_ other crystals but you're absolutely not taking any more," an unknown voice says.

The team turns their attention towards a person right behind Aerrow. Nobody could identify who they were because of the brown hooded outfit they were wearing. There was no printed insignia and a messenger bag was slung over their shoulder.

"The Far-side has people?" Finn asks in disbelief.

"Excuse me, but who the hell are you to snatch our crystal?" Piper asks sharply, ignoring Finn's comment.

The unknown being began to back away, after a few moments they turned around and sprinted away from the teenagers.

"Whatever this thing is, after it!" Aerrow ordered.

The kids obeyed his order and chased the person into a cavern; they knew it would lead into a dead-end. As soon as they got the person at a dead-end, Finn, Piper, and Aerrow drew out their weapons, Junko activated his knuckle busters, and Radarr leapt off of Aerrow's shoulder. The person's breathing began to be sharp and ragged, they were hoping to find an exit.

"Give us back what we had, and we won't hurt you," Aerrow ordered.

"I'm not giving this crystal to Cyclonian dirtbags," they sneered. Aerrow noticed the voice sounded feminine, and they didn't sound very old.

Aerrow eyes widened in disbelief, the team was ready to attack at any moment, Aerrow raised his hand before speaking,"guys, lower your weapons, this person thinks we're Cyclonians."

The three obeyed and Aerrow sheathed his blades. "Trust us, we aren't Cyclonians."

"How do I know that?"

"We're the Storm Hawks-"

"The Storm Hawks have been dead for years!" The person shouts back, cutting off what Aerrow was saying.

"Listen to us, I'm the last descendent of the sky knight, I- we recreated the team, just trust us, we come in peace," Aerrow says in a calm, assuring tone.

The person lets out a sigh before speaking, "I'll trust you for now, but don't ruin it. Just let me out of this wet cave before I do anything." The five step out of this person's way so they could get through and followed them out.

"So can you please tell us who you are?" Finn asks.

The person shrugs, "won't hurt."

As the person shrugged off their hood, Aerrow notices his assumption was right: it was a young girl, she looked twelve at the very least. She had curly bright red hair tied in a side braid that stopped right above her belly button and her bangs brushed her shoulders. She had bright blue eyes, fair skin, and freckles dotted her cheeks, Aerrow also noticed this girl was extremely thin.

"I'm Iris by the way," the girl says stepping towards the five.

"I'm Aerrow," Aerrow could've sworn he saw Iris' eyes widen as he said his name but ignored it and turned towards the four behind him and began pointing left to right, "this is Piper, Finn, Junko," and Aerrow points to the blue animal right next to his leg, "and Radarr."

Iris sucks in a deep breath before speaking, "nice to meet you all."

"You're from here, right?" Aerrow questioned.

"I know I wasn't born here but I've lived here for as long as I can remember," Iris answered.

"Well, why don't you come to the Condor with us, and... maybe show us around?" Aerrow offered.

Iris shrugged, "I don't see why not."

Iris followed the five onto the ship and one of the first things she saw was a merb right by the piloting station.

"Who's this?" Iris asked, pointing at the green humanoid.

"That's Stork. Stork, this is Iris, she can help us find our way through here," Aerrow says.

"Hi," Stork says awkwardly, then walked away. A few moments later, he reappears with a pair of binoculars.

"Stork, do you really have to do this? I highly doubt this chick's got mind worms," Finn says, obviously annoyed.

"Doesn't hurt to check," Storks says and scans the girl with his binoculars.

"What's going on?" Iris asked, bemused.

"You get used to it after a while," Aerrow whispers.

"She's clean," Stork says, and goes back to what he was doing previously.

"So, Iris, tell us what you know about this place," Aerrow says, turning to the young girl.

"Well, we don't usually trust outsiders here on New Atmosia, um, from what we've read about the other side we're not that different. The only difference really is that our technology is much more advanced. Apart from that, we have terras so travel is based on flight blah blah blah," Iris says, "you'll be surprised how similar this place is to where you guys are from."

"Do you have any idea where Cyclonis is?" Piper asked.

"A slight idea, I know it's nearby the crystal supply that's just past the city, I know this because the Cyclonians have been taking all of our crystal supply and an empire is nearby now," Iris takes a deep breath before continuing, "I wouldn't go there without a plan though, the fact that the Dark Ace or whatever his face is now a half-crystal-"

"You mean," Piper and Aerrow look at each other in disbelief, "the Dark Ace isn't dead?"

"I take it you're not very familiar with the Binding?" Iris asked.

"We are a little bit," Piper says.

"Well, let's just say that over exerting the Binding on somebody doesn't kill them, it only makes them stronger. If you don't know how to get rid of half-crystals, they're very powerful and capable of a lot."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two.**

Cyclonis sat down in her throne, looking at the older man kneeling before her. She had just realized that she never lost her right hand man, but made him more powerful than ever; the master smirked at that thought. His appearance has changed considerably, one of his eyes seemed to be replaced with a yellow crystal, the other one was a glowing, inhuman red, several golden tribal marks covered his body and face like tattoos. Master Cyclonis couldn't wait to see this half-crystal in action again.

"I am at your command, Master Cyclonis. I would like to make up for my behaviour the other day," The Dark Ace says.

It amused Cyclonis how loyal the Dark Ace was to her. He was like a well-trained dog to her; doing everything she told him to do.

"That pesky sky knight Aerrow is more likely here, trying to get rid of me," The girl says, annoyed, "I would like you to deal with him and his Storm Hawks. Your new enhancement makes you unstoppable, Dark Ace."

"As you wish, Master Cyclonis."

"But how is the Dark Ace alive? He pretty much blew up from the Binding," Aerrow says, raising his eyebrows.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He first couldn't believe the Dark Ace was gone, but now he can't believe he was still alive.

"Because of how powerful they are, half-crystals are restricted on your side of Atmos," Iris stated.

"But, how does that even work?" Finn asked.

"I don't know, I'm not a super expert. We just get warned to stay away from them when I was at school."

"Shouldn't you be in school right now?" Finn teased.

Iris rolls her eyes, "I don't go anymore for personal reasons," she clasped her hands together, "anyway, back on topic. We need more information about half-crystals. We could go to the library in the city and I'm sure there'll be a book about it somewheres."

"We don't know where this city is," Stork says, rolling his eyes.

"That's why I have this," Iris then rummages through her messenger bag and pulls out a magenta coloured crystal. Seconds later, a holographic map appears from the stone. Iris hands the stone to Stork, "set course for New Atmosia City."

After about a half-hour of flying, the carrier ship entered the city. The whole squadron has never seen anything like it. The cobblestone streets were crowded with people whose eyes were on the Codor, some rode on skimmers. There were large buildings that were at least four storeys high, and a large holograph of the news channel at one spot. What stuck out to Iris was the news story; it was an update on a crystal robbery done by the Dark Ace and Master Cyclonis a couple days ago. A video of the robbery appeared on the holograph and on the bottom it said two people were pronounced dead on the scene.

"See this Aerrow, is what you guys would go up against," Iris says, pointing at the holograph.

Aerrow sees the Dark Ace a glowing yellow like a crystal ready to fire, a pair of fire-like wings sprawled out from his back as he shot blasts of energy at an innocent victim. As the glowing energy died down, Aerrow noticed the eye he had left had a menacing glow; the other eye seemed to be replaced by a crystal and marks were all over his face.

"Holy shit," Finn muttered.

Aerrow narrowed his eyes at the image of the transformed Dark Ace before him, "Maybe if we find out what his strengths and weaknesses are, maybe we can take him down. But that's easier said than done," he says.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's find out some more information on what we're up against," Piper responded.

Stork landed the Condor nearby what Iris said was the library and the seven exited the ship. They received stares from a number of people and at times Aerrow heard "Who are they?" "Who's Iris with?" "Are they those Cyclonians?"

"Should we just tell them we come in peace?" Junko asked.

"I'm sure they'll find out eventually," Piper says.

Iris walks over the the librarian who was staring at the other six.

"Hello there," the elderly woman says, "who are these guys?"

"They're the Storm Hawks, they're here to help us from the Cyclonians," Iris answers, "we need to find some books on half-crystal humanoids."

"Over in aisle seven there should be some," the woman responds with a smile.

Iris thanked her and the team went to the directed aisle and grabbed numerous books they think they might need. After signing them out, they walked outside to be greeted by a large camera crew.

"Looks like we're already on the news," Finn says with a smirk, and finished his sentence with "Chika-Cha".

Aerrow looks at the large holograph and sees his team live on camera with the headline: _Strangers on New Atmosia. Are They Cyclonians or Not? _Just as Aerrow turns his head back towards the Condor, a reporter was walking up to him as well as several other people with flashing cameras.

"Hello, I am Ivan Storm, #1 source for news in New Atmosia. Who are you and what are you doing here?" The reporter asked Aerrow.

Aerrow takes a deep breath before speaking into the microphone, trying to ignore the fact that all eyes were on him, "I'm Aerrow, I'm the Sky Knight of the Storm Hawks. We are not Cyclonians, we're here to protect you from the Cyclonians. Our mission is the protect the entire Atmos and get rid of evil forever. I repeat, we're here to protect you guys."

"Well, well, looks like Aerrow found his long lost sibling," the Dark Ace says bitterly watching the news report.

"Long lost sibling?" Master Cyclonis questioned coldly.

"Lightning Strike had two children, Aerrow, and his youngest child, Iris," the Dark Ace paused the video to point out Iris, who was standing next to Aerrow.

"Aerrow should know that he has a little sister," Master Cyclonis says, the Dark Ace raised an eyebrow in a questioning matter, "if he knows he has a little sister, his new duty will be to protect her, leaving Aerrow distracted. This gives you the opportunity to use one of your tricks on him, Dark Ace."

The Dark Ace nodded, "I like your idea, I'll plan on an attack as soon as tomorrow."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three.**

"So according to this book, we would need a deactivater stone," Piper stated, "where do you find those?"

"If you dig, you'll find it," Iris says then yawns.

The team hardly got any sleep last night because they were doing research on half-crystals.

Piper left the bridge, moments later she reappeared with a blocker crystal, "are these the same thing?"

"No, a blocker crystal can't shoot from a long distance, nor is it small enough the use for a weapon," Iris responded.

Piper grumbled and took her blocker crystal back to where she got it from.

"So we know how to get rid of them," Aerrow began, "but what kind of threats do they pose other than what we know about?"

"They can kill you. They can either set a curse on you or kill you instantly, whichever way they feel like doing I guess," Iris says, mumbling the last part, she continued, "however, these curses can also be for good luck."

"Good luck?" Finn questioned.

"Sometimes, half-crystals can give you good luck. Depends on if they're a good guy or not," Iris said.

"So what you're saying is not all half-crystals are bad," Junko says.

Piper cleared her throat, causing all comments to die down, "Anyways, we absolutely have to aim at the heart. Why the heart?"

"Half-crystals don't have a human heart, they have a crystal replacing the heart," Iris stated.

"Makes sense, I think we should drop this subject. None of us had much sleep," Aerrow says.

"Yeah, I'm taking a nap," Finn said.

"I think I'll take a nap too," Junko says, softly yawning.

The team left the bridge with the exception of Iris and Piper.

Piper waited a few moments before speaking, "you know, you know an awful lot about these half-crystals for a young girl," Piper says, suspicion dripping out of her voice.

"Yeah? Is anything wrong with that?" Iris says.

"Are you setting us up?"

"Of course not, I'm only trying to protect you guys, preparing you guys for what's about to come your way," Iris takes a deep breath before continuing, "protecting Aerrow especially."

"What's so significant about him?" Piper asked, folding her arms.

Iris digs into her messenger bag, and hands Piper a thick photo album, "you tell me."

Piper scans through the pictures seeing old photos of what she assumed was Iris, a woman with brown hair and blue eyes, Lightning Strike, and a little boy who looked like Aerrow.

"So you're telling me that..." Piper trailed off.

"I'm his sister."

"You gotta tell him!"

"I will eventually," Iris responded, it was followed by a loud thud coming from the hangar. Piper opened her mouth to speak but Iris shushed her, "did you just hear that?"

Piper nodded, "I did, and I'm sure the others did too."

Moments later, Aerrow came out onto the bridge in his battle gear, "what was that?" he asked.

"That's what I would like to know," Piper answered, "it came from the hangar bay."

Aerrow drew out his energy blades and stealthily walked towards the hangar; he peeked inside but nothing was to be seen, "it must have snuck inside," Aerrow says as he walked towards the radio; he lifts up the microphone and speaks into it, "Everybody! Something entered the ship, gear up and search every room to find this thing."

Everybody obeyed his order and started searching for whatever entered the ship. Iris already had a feeling she knew what it was. Aerrow provided her with a staff that wasn't used often. Suddenly, she felt a hand yank on her braid.

"Well, well, if it isn't the long lost sister of Aerrow," instantly, she knew who the voice belonged to.

"Get away from me!" Iris yells and attempts to hit the Dark Ace with her staff. The man caught it with his free hand; it began to glow and the staff incinerated in his hand. Iris gasped at the sight.

Aerrow suddenly heard Iris scream. It seemed like she was in the engine room.

"Iris! Hang on," Aerrow shouted as he ran to the engine room.

He entered the room to the sight of the girl put under hostage by the one person who never failed to make his blood boil.

"Dark Ace," Aerrow snarled as he drew his blades, "I should have known!"

"Look who it is," the Dark Ace sneered.

"Let go of the girl, and nobody gets hurt," Aerrow says firmly.

"Put your blades away, and your long lost sister won't get hurt, make any sudden movements and she's dead," the Dark Ace threatened, moving his glowing hand closer to Iris' neck.

"Long lost sister?" Aerrow questioned.

"You didn't know? You had a sister! And it just so happens to be Iris," the older man says.

Aerrow felt a lump growing in his throat; he couldn't believe this. He looked at the scared girl and she nodded her head.

"Let go of her. _Now_," Aerrow ordered as his voice became uneven.

"You gotta drop your weapons first, I just wanna talk."

"Fine," Aerrow sheathed his blades and the Dark Ace let go of Iris' braid.

Almost instantly, the Dark Ace disappeared; he reappeared behind Aerrow and began to glow with red energy.

"Behind you!" Iris shouted to Aerrow.

Aerrow turned around to see energy shooting out of the Dark Ace. This energy began to surround Aerrow and he began to feel excruciating pain, he let out a scream because of it and collapsed.

"No!" Iris cried.

Finn appeared behind the Dark Ace and shot at him, "Leave Aerrow alone!"

The Dark Ace let out a snarl and the energy surrounding Aerrow died down, "My work here is done for now, you haven't seen the last of me!" He yelled then fled the scene by vanishing.

Aerrow, still on the ground and breathing heavily, groaned as he attempted to lift himself up, but failed. The rest of the team approached the scene and immediately rushed to Aerrow's side.

"What happened to him?" Piper asked.

Iris, who was still startled by what happened spoke up, "The Dark Ace shot this strange energy at him-"

"Is he alright?" Finn cut her off.

"I don't know! Aerrow," Iris carefully crawled over to Aerrow's side, "how are you feeling?"

"My back feels like it's on fire and the energy has been drained out of me," he responded in a hoarse voice, he successfully sat up and looked at the younger girl, "so was what the Dark Ace said really true? Are you really my..?"

"Yes. I know, you didn't see it coming. I wasn't just going to just pop out and-"

Aerrow raised a hand to silence Iris, "it's fine, I understand. I'll be right back."

He struggled to get up and he stumbled to the bathroom. Once in there, he took off his shirt and glanced at his back in the mirror. He notices an odd mark in his back; it was one that stretched from his shoulder blade and ended at the bottom of his spine where there was a potato-shaped loop.

"What the hell?" Aerrow narrowed his eyes as his fingers brushed across it and that caused the mark to turn to a glowing crimson and the pain to increase to a point where it was unbearable. Aerrow let out an agonized scream as he collapsed on the metal floor. Moments after he hit the floor, his whole world went black.


End file.
